Novatek signs Arctic LNG China deals

Russian gas supplier to send more cargoes to China, but this time to an independent importer and a provincial state-owned group

Russian gas firm Novatek has signed two deals with Chinese importers for volumes from its Arctic LNG 2 project. The first, an SPA with Chinese independent ENN, is for 0.6mn t/yr and will run for 11 years, although neither party has specified a start date. The second agreement will see Novatek ship 1mn t/yr to state-owned Zhejiang Provincial Energy Group for 15 years. ENN has led the way among Chinese independents in the LNG market, bypassing the state-owned entities that account for the bulk of China’s sizeable imports. The company signed a 13-year, 900,000t/yr deal with the US’s Cheniere last October. Novatek is building a storage and transshipment hub in Kamchatka in Russia’s Pacific Far